


JWP 2019 #27: A Most Unusual Patient

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Injury, Prompt Fic, References to murder and villianry, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 12:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20008099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: There's a great deal of speculation at the Yard about Doctor Watson and his most recent patient. Written for JWP 2019 #27.





	JWP 2019 #27: A Most Unusual Patient

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Outsider point of view and speculation as to Watson's actions. References to a past case that remains undocumented and unexplained, one that involved injury and death. And written in a huge rush. You have been warned.
> 
> Prompt: A Most Unusual Patient: Watson receives an unusual patient whose presence inspires today’s work.

The actions of Doctor Watson in the courtroom were a three-days wonder around the Yard, almost eclipsing the precipitating event itself. That a woman could bring her gun into the courtroom concealed under her cloak, calmly wait until Cowden arrived in the dock, and then shoot him five times – well, that was shocking enough in one way. In another light, it wouldn’t have been too surprising if a dozen people had done the same thing. Cowden was that horrible, and had hurt and killed so many.

Doctor Watson sprang up from where he was waiting to be called as witness and rush to tend the fallen man. That was the wonder, and cause of much speculation around the Yard.

Some condemned him, or at least swore and called his actions foolish. Wasn’t this the very same man who’d shot Mr Holmes, and who had knifed and maltreated Doctor Watson himself? How could he rush to the aid of a man who’d come so close to killing both of them?

Inspector Lestrade said it just went to show how good a man the he was, and how seriously he took his doctor’s oath. Many nodded their heads and understood it when put like that. Doctor Watson was a very good man indeed. A lot of us at the Yard have benefitted from his treatment, and from his habit of charging little or nothing for his help.

There was no doubt among any of us that it was due to his efforts that Cowden didn’t die right there on the floor of the courtroom. His life was still in doubt, but he had a chance, and it was all due to the doctor.

Me? I’m just a lowly constable, but I think I know the real truth of the matter, and it’s somewhere in-between. I think Doctor Watson acted as he did because he’s a doctor, and because he’s a good man. But I saw his face when he was helping Cowden. He certainly knew exactly who he was helping, and how horrible a man he is, and what he’d done. I think he did what he did not only because his oath demanded it, but Justice, too. He wanted to make sure Cowden survived just long enough to hang.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 27, 2019.


End file.
